Hydraulic concentrating apparatus



W. E. SUDLUW.

HYDRAULIC CONCENTRATING APPARATUS.

APPucATioN FILED DscA 16, 1919.

1,362,448.' Patented Dec. 14,1920,

UNITED STATES 'WILLIAM ELI SUDLOW, 0F LINCOLNTON, NORTE-I CROLINA.

HYDRAULIC CONGENTRATING APPARATUS.

Application led December 16, 1919.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SUDLow,

a subject of the' King of England, and a resident of the city of Lincolnton, in the county of Lincoln and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Hydraulic Concentrating Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

This invention relates to improvements in hydraulic concentrating apparatus, an object of the invention being to provide improved means for forcing the ore in a stream of water upwardly in an inclined pipe and provide an improved arrangement of boxes in communication with the pipe for recovering the ore.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the character stated which is particularly adapted for use in the recovery of tin ore, but is also adapted to any ore with greater specific gravity than the gangue.

l/Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view partly in section, but mainly in elevation illustrating my improvements.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

1 represents a tank which may be positioned in the ground if desired so as to position the tank at a low level. This tank is divided by a vertical partition into two compartments 2, and 3, and a passage 4 is provided in the partition, connecting the compartments. This passage 4 is controlled by a gate 5 operated by a rack 6 and pinion 7, as shown, or other desired operating means.

The tank 1 is adapted to receive in compartment 3, the gangue and ore bodies falling thereinto from the sluice (not shown) which is permitted to flow into compartment 2 as controlled by the gate 5.

In the compartment 3, a centrifugal pump 8 is located and forces the material u through an upwardly inclined pipe 9. This Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Serial No. 345.279.

pump 8 may of course be operated in any approved manner. I have shown a drive shaft 10 and drive pulley 11 for the purpose.

The pipe 9 is provided at suitable intervals with boxes 12 having screens 13 in their bottoms located above conical pockets 14.

It is apparent that the lighter material will travel more rapidly than the heavy Inaterial and that the latter will lag and drag on the bottom of the pipe and fall through the screens 13 into the pockets 14. These screens may be of varying mesh to graduate the material if desired, and it will be noted that the boxes 12 are of greater cross sectional area than the pipe so as to permit a fall and scattering of the heavier material to facilitate the screening action.

15 represents a water supply tank having an outlet pipe 16 and this outlet pipe 16 is provided with branch pipes 17 projecting into the lower portions of the pockets 14 and having upwardly discharging outlet ends 18, discharging upwardly to till the screens and agitate the material thereby assisting the screening operation.

The flow through the pipe 16 is rendered intermittent by means of a rotary plug valve 19 turned by a pulley 20 or other operating means, so that the water is discharged upwardly through the pockets in the form of jets of short duration but at frequent intervals.

Outlet cocks 21 are provided at the lower ends of the pockets to permit the escape of material therefrom; cocks 22 are preferably provided in the pipes 17 to control the flow of water therethrough.

The operation is as follows:

The material is forced up the pipe 9 depositing in the pockets 14 the ore which falls through the screens 13 and any desired number of pockets can be provided so that by the time the end of the pipe is reached all the ore will have been deposited and the outlet end of the pipe will be at such an elevation to deposit the tailings at a convenient height to allow large volumes to be handled daily.

Various slight changes might be made in the general form of the parts described without departing from my invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise details setforth but consider myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as Yfairly fall Within the spirit and screens in the bottom of the boxes, and scope of the appended claim. pockets below the screens, a tank, an outlet I claim: pipe from the tank, branch pipes in said 10 A concentrator, comprising an inclined pipe discharging into the pockets, a rotary 5 pipe, means for forcing material upwardly plug Valve in the said pipe, and means for therethrough, a series of boxes in the pipe Continuously turning said valve.

of greater cross-sectional area than the pipe, WILLIAM ELI SUDLOW. 

